Combined wire tension device



(No Model.)

W'. T. LOOMIS. COMBINED WIRE TENSION DEVIOE, SPLIGER, AND STRETUHER.

No. 512,728, Patented Jan. 16, 1894.

NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

.VVALTER T. LOOMIS, OF STAFFORDSBURG, KENTUCKY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,728, dated January 16, 1894.

Application filed June 17,1893. SerielNo. 477,905. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER T. LOOMIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Staffordsburg, in the county of Kenton and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Combined Fence- Wire Stretcher,-Splicer, and Tension Device;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the inventlon, reference being had to the annexed drawlngs, which form part of this specification.

My invention comprises a tool or implement whose use greatly facilitates the construction or those fences which consist of vertical pick-. ets or palin gs inserted between stringer wires attached at suitable intervals to supporting posts. Said tool is alight, simple and handy contrivance, capable of performing the threefold duty of a tension-device, stretcher and splioer, as hereinafter more fullydescribed.

In the annexed drawings-Figure 1 shows the method of using the tool as a tension-device. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the tool, a portion of the hooked end of the same being sectioned. Fig.3 is a plan of the tool, a friction washer thereof and portion of a guide being sectioned. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show the method of using the implement as a wire-splicer. Figs. 7 and Sam modifications of my invention.

The principal member of the tool is a flat,

- metallic-plate A, from which a stud-shaft a projects laterally, the outer end of said shaft being screw threaded topermit the ready engagement of a thumb-nut B. J ournaledupon this shaft is a grooved disk or wheel or sheave 0, between which, and the face of plate A, a friction-washer or pad D, is interposed.

E is a guide interposed between the thumb nut B, and disk 0, one end of said guide beingperforated to permit a free passage of shaft a, while the other end thereof is bent, in the manner shown; andinserted in the upper or wider one F of a pair of slots F Ft, thus allowing the bent end of said guide to dropbelow a wire wherewith the tool is conpled'to an equalizing bar, as will presently appear. By this arrangement the member E, prevents the nut B being turned by frictional contact with the disk 0, and serves, also, as a guide that confines a wire in a proper path as it uncoils from said disk.

G is a hook formed at one end of the plate A, and bent down and so turned to one side as to leave a passage g, for a purpose that will presently appear. g is a rounded shoulder formed where this hook joins the plate A, and H is an opening in said plate and near said shoulder.

I is another hook, located between the hole H and disk 0, the two hooks G, I and shaft a, being, preferably, integral with the plate A.

J J, K K, L L, and M M, in Fig.1, are four pairs of stringer wires whose ends are attached to an equalizing bar N, and O is a short piece of wire that connects this bar with the grooved disk 0, of the tension-device.

P is a post, set in the ground, and R-is a rope, passed around said post, and havingits ends knotted and engaged with the hooks G, I, so as to hold the tool very securely, and in a proper position, although a chain may be employed for this purpose. When the tool is thus used, the wire 0 is. passed several times around the single circumferential groove of I disk 0, the free end of said wire being carried up and over the guide E, and then permitted to ban gtherefro m as shown at 0, after which act, the thumb nut B is tightened, for the purpose of producing-any degree of friction against said disk. Consequently, any pull on the bar N, caused by inserting the pickets between the stringer wires, is compensatedfor by the wire 0, as it uncoils from the disk, the guide E serving to conduct said wire in a proper path, and prevent one coil ridingover and interfering with another coil.

When the tool is used as a stretcher, a stringer wire, or a pair of such wires, is inserted in the appropriate slot F, or F, and is given a right angle bend, as indicated by the dotted lines S, in Fig. 3, the provision of two slots, of different widths, enabling the implement to be used with every sized wire employed in building fences of the character described. After the wires have been engaged with the tool, any suitable power may be applied to the latter, so as to stretch the wires very tightly before they are temporarily fastened to the posts, while the other pairs or sets are being stretched, preparatory to attaching them to the equalizing bar N.

When the tool is used as a splicer, or in other words, for uniting the ends ofapair: of wires, one of thelnyas T is first appliedtothe passage g, and the other wire U, is shoved through the hole H, as seen in Fig. 4. The wires are then grasped by a pair of pinchers, as indicated by the dotted lines V, and the tool is turned around to-the position seen in Fig. 5, and so operated as to bend the wireU aroundthe other wire Tl. During this operation, the shoulder g, bears on the wire ahead, and firmly against the coils While they are being formed, the result being aclose and,

compact bending of the wire, as seen in Fig. 6. After the end of wire'U,hasbeen thus coiled, the implement is applied to the end of wire T, and it is bent ina preciselysimilar manner. @From the above description, it is. apparent .this small implement, which need DDlli'bB morewthan eight inches.long;cornbines all thea'dvantages of the most complicated: tensiondevices, stretchers and splicers, and being so simply constructed,it is notiliablewto' getout of order.

iIn the modification of my invention, seen in .Fig.-;7,a sprocketpr toothed wheel O',is substituted {for the disk 0, and a chain 0'', takesthe place of wire 0. Another change is seenin Fig.8, where a stone or othenweight. W', i is attached to thewire O, which weight should drag on the ground and thus prod uce. the desired friction withoutemploying a tight. ening nut B, or any equivalent therefor.

I claim as my invention 1. :The combination, in a fencebuilder s too1,.of a'platehaving near its centera studshaft witlra sheave journaled upon it, a y deviceapplied:tosaidshaft for the purpose of producing friction against saidsheave, means nearwone-endof said plate for attaching a coupling wherewith the tool is temporarily fastened to a fixed object, and a-slotnear the opposite end of said plate, for the engagementof a wirerto be stretched,substantially asherein described.

.2. A fence wire tension device :having ineansfor securing itin place, andcarrying a'friction-wheel that is automatically turned by aconnection acting against itsperiphery, for the purpose-stated.

3. A fence-wire tension-device comprising 7 a hand-toolformed of .the plate A, havinga single screwvthreadedstud-shaft ca with which anut Bis engaged, a single. grooved-wheel 0,

journaled on. saidshaft, and. a. single" detachable-guide E, :which guidelhas one end supported by said shaft, while its other end s inserted in a slot F, in the upper edge of sald plate, all as herein described.

4. .Thecombination,inafenceswire tensiondevice, of a plate A provided with a screwthreaded stud-shaft a, a slot F, and a pair of hooks G and 1, the groovedwheel or z-dlSk'O, journaled upon said shaft, the guide E, having one end applied to said shaft, and its iotheuend inserted withinysaidaslot.Ff, and a nut B screwed to the shaft, for the purpose stated.

5. A wire-splicer consisting of the plate A having hooksG L projecting f-romropposite edges of the "same, and a &hole 111 ipassing through saidiplatenear the; hook. G,2Wh1@ht1S in :front of the otherhook 11,. a-ndiis Il-rbentilatorally neariits point to afiior'dsa longitudinal passage gyallasherein describedmn'd forIthe purpose stated.

6. A wire-splicerconsisting ofrthe platetA,

5 having hooks G, H, projecting from opposite edges of ithe sa1ne,:a hol e: passing: through 'said plate .near the hook G, Whi 3hiifi in front 1 of %the other .hook @I, and ."is bentilatera'lly near its .point to "form a longitudinal passage 9,

\and a bearing g near said holelh-all as hereiin described.

7. A f fence-builders tool rcomprising the plate.A,'having a hooklnear one end to perlmit a longitudinalpull,iand edgevslots ofidiflferent widths near. its other end, uvhereby a wire can be passed :throughFeithewof :said :slotsanjd be bent'at-right angles -on tthelopgposite sides of saidplate to prevent theavire yslipping, allxas herein described."

. 8. A fence-wiretension-device r comprising .a handtool formed of aplate carryinga friction-wheel that isautornaticallyturnedbya rconnection acting against its :peripheny said plate beingprovided :with :a ireadily detachableguide over which the free end 50f :rsaid connection is suspended after it isacoiled around said wheel, as herein described.

In testimony whereof I affix my=signatureli in ,presence of two witnesses.

WALTER/l. LOOMIS.

Witnesses:

JAMES H. LAYMAN, SAMUEL MQUINN. 

